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4 Pathted Nov. 20,1894.

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NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

EDWARD S. WINCHESTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

;, LATCH SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 529,575,dated November 20, 1894.

Application filed March 19,1894.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. WINCHES- TER,of Dorchester, (Boston,)countyof Sufiolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Latches, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to latches for doors, 850., the objects being toprovide for the convenient and easy application of the latch to thedoor; to avoid the difficulty in operating the same which results fromthe shrinkage or swelling of the wood; to prevent the projection of thelatch bolt while the door is open; and to provide a latch which will beneat in appearance, and which will operate edectively.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in a latch of improvedform embodying various features and constructions fully pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsection through a portion of the rail of door, and a latch having myinvention embodied therein, the devices for automatically releasing thelatch bolt when the door is closed, being shown in ele vation. Fig. 2 isa vertical transverse section on the line 2-2 of the preceding figure,looking toward the left. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the upper edge ofthe door showing thelever for automatically releasing the latch bolt.Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig.- 6.Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a portion of the rail of the door, andthe face plate of the latch casing. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section onthe line 6-6 of Fig. 4, the latch bolt being shown in a retractedposition. Fig. 7 is a similar view with the latch bolt projected.

' Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the casing composed of twoside Walls 2 and 3, a face plate 4 and top and bottom end plates 5connecting the face plate and side walls, the casing being thus leftopen at its rear, through which opening a rocker arm 6 extends to theinterior of the casing, as more fully described hereinafter. The top andbottom end plates of the casing incline from the face plate toward eachother, the face plate being extended beyond the ends of the casing,which extended portions are formed with openings to receive screws 7 bywhich the Serial No. 504,226. (No model.)

trouble and more quickly than is required for a mortise with parallelends, for the reason that there is less wood to be removed and lessdifficulty encountered in theformation of the inclined ends. v

The face plate ofthe casing is formed'with an opening through which alatch bolt 8 swings, it being mounted loosely at one end on a verticalpivot pin 9 fixed to the face plate of the casing, the bolt being urgedconstantly forward by a spring 10, which encircles the pivot pin and hasone end fixed tothe side wall'of the casing, while its opposite endbears against the latch bolt as shown in Fig. 7. The arrangement is suchthat when the bolt is retracted, as shown in Fig. 6, its front face willbe flush with the face plate of the casing, and when projected it willoccupy the position shown in Fig. 7.v In its rear side the bolt isformed with a cavity in which a vertical pin 11 is fixed near one side,and on this pin are loosely mounted. the front ends of two arms 12,which arms are connected together at their rear ends by a cross bar 13,the arms and bar constituting a frame pivoted to the latch bolt. Thisframe is acted on by the ends of two coiled springs 14, which encircleand are fixed to'the pin, while-their free ends bear upon the two arms,as shown in Fig. 4. The cross bar of this frame is extended at its endsbeyond the arms, forming cars 15, which are engaged by swinginglever-plates 16, operated by the rocker arm, before alluded to; Theselever-plates are triangular in form and are pivoted between the walls ofthe casing as at '17, and are urged constantly toward each other byspring arms 17 fixed to the plates The rocker arm 6 has its free endformed with two oppositely extending fingers 20, against which the twostraight edges of the plates bear, and between the fingers a frictionroller 21 is mounted on a central spindle 22 and revolves against thesides of the casing as the arm is rocked to operate the latch.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that when the free end ofthe rocker arm is moved either upward or downward by turning a spindle22 to which it is connected, it will tip one or the other of theswinging plates on its axis, and cause it to move rearward at its freeend, the front wall of the re cess in the plate engaging the projectingear on the pivoted frame and causing the latch bolt to be retractedwithin the casing. On the release of the spindle, the swinging plateunder the influence of its spring, will restore the rocker arm to itsnormal position. The spindle is connected to one of the knob stems 23and is square in cross section and extends through a hub 24 on the endof the rocker arm. The extreme end of the spindle beyond the hub isthreaded exteriorly and screwed into the other knob stem 25, a spiralspring being provided between the hub and knob stem 23 to prevent theparts from rattling.

Instead of mounting the spindle in bearings in the casing, as has beenthe case heretolore, in the present invention it is disconnected fromthe casing and has its bearing only in knob roses 26 and 27, which areapplied to the opposite side of the door around the opening located atthe rear end of and communicating with the mortise in which the latchcasing is mounted These two knob roses constitute the sole bearing forthe spindie, the rose 26 being provided with the usual annular flange28, which bears against the rail of the door, from which flange threeposts 29 extend into the opening. On the ends of these posts anexteriorly threaded ring 30 is fixed, upon which an interiorly threadedneck 31 extending from the flange of the rose 27 is screwed. By thussustaining the threaded ring by the three posts, the rocker arm isenabled to extend between the posts and be moved to operate the latch.

As aresult of the disconnection of the spindle and its rocker arm fromthe casing, the shrinkage or swelling of the wood cannot afiect themovement of the spindle, for the reason that it is free to move to alimited extent relatively to the casing. Were it otherwise, and were thespindle mounted in the latch case and also in the knob roses, theshrinkage or swelling of the wood would cause the parts to bind, and inthis way would seriously interfere with the turning of the spindle.Another advantage resulting from this arrangement, is that the spindlemay be ap plied to the true center of the rail of the door withoutregard to the location of the latch casin On reference to Fig. 4, itwill be seen that on account of the extended straight parallel edges ofthe swingingplates, the rocker arm is enabled to operate them eitherwhen occupying the position indicated or when located farther to therear, as indicated in dotted lines. In other words, the rocker arm andthe spindle carrying the same, have a limited lateral adjustment withrespect to the latch casing in which the operative parts are mounted.

In order that the latch bolt may be temporarily held in a retractedposition when it is operated to open the door, I provide a spring detentin the form of a pin 82, which pin is mounted on the end of an angularspring arm 33. fixed to the outside of the side wall 2 of thecasing. Thepinextendslaterallythrough the casing, and has its end in position toextend beyond the cross bar of the frame which is pivoted to the latchbolt, as shown in Fig. 6. The pin is beveled so that the frame may ridethereover and beyond the same, when the bolt is retracted.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that when the spindle isoperated, the latch bolt will be withdrawn and the pivoted frame willengage the beveled end of the pin, be lifted, drop behind the same, andwill be held in this position by the pin. The spindle will then berestored to its former position by the spring actuated swinging plate.It will be seen that the latch bolt is locked in aretracted positionwith its front face flush with the face of the casing. This is ofadvantage in that while the door isopen, there will be no projectingparts to be tampered with, and the latch will present a neat andfinished appearance. In order that when the door is closed the latchbolt may be automatically released and allowed to be projected, Iprovide connections extending to the top of the door,

which connections are adapted when the door is closed to automaticallymove the locking pin and cause the same to be disengaged by the latchbolt. This action is effected in the following manner: To the side wall2 of the casing, a lever 34 is pivoted, the lower end of the leverextending beneath the spring arm 33, while its upper end terminates atthe upper end plate of the casing. At this point, the end of the leveris extended through the end of an arm 35, which is fixed to a verticalrock shaft 36, from which a vertical rod 37 extends through an openingin the door rail to the top of the same, where it is provided with anarm 38 fixed thereto and having on its end a vertical finger 39. Nearits upper end the rod is encircled by a spiral spring 40, which tendsnormally to hold the arm in the position indicated in full lines in Fig.3, in which position the vertical lever 34 will have its lower end heldnormally as shown in Fi 2, the locking pin extending in front of theframe of the latch bolt, and holding the same in a retracted position.The parts being in this position, when the door is closed the finger 39on the arm will come in contact with the jamb of the door and themovement of the door being continued, the arm will be moved to theposition indicated by dotted ITO lines in Fig. 3, which movement willrock the vertical shaft and throw the lower end of the vertical lever 34outward, thereby forcing the spring arm 33 outward and disengaging thelocking pin from the frame on the latch bolt, which latter will by itsactuating spring, be projected.

When the door is to be opened, the spindle is turned, and the latch boltretracted to the position shown in Fig. 6. The spindle is held in thisposition, until the door is opened far enough to allow the arm 38 to bemoved to its normal position byits spring, which will throw the lowerend of the lever 34 inward and permit the locking pin to engage inadvance of the frame of the latch bolt.

In order that a tight joint may be formed between the, rail of the doorand the knob roses to prevent rattling,I interpose between the flange ofthe rose 26 and the side of the door, a ring 41 of rubber or otherelasticmaterial.

It will be understood, of course, that the devices for operating thelocking pin to release the latch bolt may be actuated by engagement withthe door frame instead of the door jamb, as shown and described, theessential requirement in this regard being, when the door is closed thedevices will contact with some fixed portion of the frame and releasethe latch.

,While I have described the spindle as being separate from the knobstems, it is in fact a continuation of the stems and in the claims it isto be understood as such.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is-- 1. The combinationof the casing, the latch bolt pivoted therein, two swinging plates inposition to engage the latch bolt and formed with adjacent straightedges, the spindle mounted in bearings disconnected from the casing, andthe rocker arm connected at one end to the spindle and having itsopposite end extended between the two adjacent edges of the swingingplates in position to engage the same.

2. The combination of the casing, the latch bolt mounted therein, thetwo oppositely disposed lever-plates pivoted respectively at oppositesides of the latch bolt and having their free ends arranged to engageandmove the latch bolt when swung outward, the spindle, and the rocker armthereon having its free end extended between the free ends of theswinging lever -plates; whereby the movement of the rocker arm in eitherdirection will swing one or the other of the plates outward and act toretract the latch bolt.

3. The combination of the latch bolt, a spring detent for temporarilyholdingth'e bolt in retracted position, a lever fulcrumed at the side ofthe case for throwing the detent out of action, a rock shaft extendingto the top of the door and havingan arm in engagement with said leverfor actuating the latter and an arm to engage the door frame and rockthe shaft when the door is closed.

4. The combination of the casing, the latch bolt therein, a springdetent for temporarily holding the latch bolt in a retracted position, avertical rock shaft arranged to be operated by the closing movement ofthe door and adapted to retract the detent and release the bolt. V 5.The combination of the casing, the latch bolt therein, the laterallymovable detent for temporarily holding the same in a retracted position,the vertical rock shaft, the arm on the lower end of the shaft, thelever between said arm and the detent, and the arm on the upper end ofthe shaft arranged to be moved by the closing movement of the door andto operate the detent and release the latch bolt.

6. The combination of the casing, the latch side of the casing, the pinon the end of the arm extending through the casing in position to engagethe latch bolt when the same is retracted, the lever pivoted to thecasing and having its lower end in engagement with the spring arm,therocking arm connected to the upper end of the lever, the verticalrock shaft .connected to the arm, the horizontal lever at the upper endof the door in position to be engaged by the frame, and the rodconnecting said lever with the rock shaft.

7. The combination with the casing, of the latch bolt pivoted near itsend therein, the frame pivoted near the opposite end of the latch bolt,means for retracting the bolt, the spring detent in position to extendin advance of and engage the pivoted frame when the latch bolt isretracted, and means for retracting the detent to release the bolt.

8. The combination of the swinging latch bolt, a frame pivoted theretoand provided with lateral ears, a plate pivoted at one end bolt therein,the spring arm fixed to the outer and formed in its free end with arecess corresponding in length to the throw of the latch,

a spindle, a rocker arm connected to the spindle with its free end inposition to engage the free end of the plate and swing the same outwardon its pivot and retract the belt, a detent arranged to engage saidpivoted frame and hold the bolt temporarily in a retracted position, andmeans adapted to be actuated by the door frame to release the bolt whenthe door is closed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 12th day of March,1894, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

EDWARD S. WINCHESTER.

Witnesses:

J. BROWN LORD,

GEO. HALL.

